Present Continuous Tense What is the continuous present tense? The present tense is commonly used in English and often uses the -ing form of the verb. For example, "He is running". You can see that the sentence is occurring continuously at the current moment. Present tense verbs, also known as the present continuous tense, are used to describe actions that are currently ongoing or that may occur in the future. The present tense is usually used in four general cases: 1. Describe what is happening at the moment 2. Discussing events that are temporary in nature and continue into the future but end at a particular point in time 3. List upcoming events 4. To explain a new pattern or habit This verb form is formed by the verb to be + the present participle variant (the verb form ending in -ing). These verbs can also use adverb modifiers to talk about activities that will f...